Ezekiel 13

18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:

23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

I've been reading, have 'seen' some "Hmmm, what does that mean?" But have not been diligent to research or study.

Hopefully if you're following this blog you're being more diligent in your studies...and praying for me!

What are pillows on armholes?

Kerchiefs on heads of every stature?

Hunting souls?

God is against the pillows used to hunt souls?

How or why are the 'hunters' making them fly?

The BIGGEST verse which caused me to say ahhh is this where the 'church' stands now? is 22:

22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:

This seems to 'sum' up the current teachings of easy believing the church ladles out.  Just ask Jesus into your heart mantra. Or say this prayer and your saved.

The church 'sells' salvation as if it's an easily purchased commodity, with many of the 'buyers' thinking they have eternal life (once saved always saved - especially of you said/did a, b or c).

The grace of God has been cheapened, and sadly the current church is no different than Israel and her abominations.

Nothing new under the sun, eh?

So dear saints how are we cheapen ing His grace? Selling Him? Are we truly transformed by His grace and walking in truth and righteousness?

Studying His Word versus allowing the distractions of the world to pull us away?

Oh dear saints pray for the body of Christ and our diligence to proclaim Him in truth.

Deuteronomy 10 - Love

18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth (H157) the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19 Love (H157) ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Loveth – OT = 38 (34 verses).  Hebrew words for ‘love’ – H157, H158, H160

First occurrence:

Gen_27:9  Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

Middle (or what I’m calling ‘middle’):

Psa_11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Last:

Hos_12:7  He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

Each reference above uses:

H157 - Love - A primitive root; to have affection for (sexually or otherwise).

Used: 212 x in 199 verses.  My…translated as love, loved, loveth, beloved, lovely, lovest, lover, friends, liketh.

The first usage is Genesis 22:2 – Abraham loving Isaac.

Deuteronomy 11:1 – Our instruction to ‘love’ the Lord our God.

1 Kings 5:1 – Hiram was a ‘lover’ of David…not in a sexual sense.

2 Samuel 13:4 – Amnon ‘loved’ his sister, Tamar (until he ‘hated’ her a few short verses later in 15).

Esther 5:10 – Haman called his ‘friends’ and his wife (interesting, she as counted as a ‘friend’?).

Psalm 88:18 – ‘Lover’ and friend (H7453) has thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance (H3045) into darkness.  (Word usage in Psalms - 39x)

Interesting lover, friend and acquaintance used all in this verse.

First usage in Proverbs:

Pro 1:22  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

Only usage where H157 is translated ‘liketh’ (the word is only translated ‘liketh 3x in the OT):

Amo 4:5  And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Loveth in the NT – 27 matches (23 verses):

G5368 – Phileo - From G5384; to be a friend to (fond of [an individual or an object]), that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; while G25 is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety: the two thus stand related very much as G2309 and G1014, or as G2372 and G3563 respectively; the former being chiefly of the heart and the latter of the head); specifically to kiss (as a mark of tenderness).  25 matches (21 verses).

First usage is Matthew 6:5; I thought this one appropriate:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth (G5368) father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth (G5368) son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Interesting:

Mat 26:48  Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss (G5368), that same is he: hold him fast.

Joh 5:20  For the Father loveth (G5368) the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

G25 – Agapao -  Perhaps from ἄγαν agan (much; or compare [H5689]); to love (in a social or moral sense.  142 matches (109 verses).

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

This study took a while for me to compile (since I’m now in 2 Samuel…that says it all!).  I simply amazed at the differences and usages between PHILEO and AGAPAO.

When you read the word of God and see the word ‘love’ translated do you pause and consider, which word is this really?

And how much do we L-O-V-E?  Enough to speak up?  Challenge current thought, patterns, behavior?

Postscript:

Here are a couple of links I found while browsing for Hebrew and Greek ‘love’ words.  Note, I have NOT vetted any of these sites and this reference is not necessarily an endorsement of such.

Relevant Hebrew Old Testament Words

Different Types of Love From the Bible: A Christian Study

Four Kinds of Love

Greek Words For Love in Context – I didn’t fully browse this one, and want to go back and review it more.

The Ancient Greeks’ 6 Words for Love (And Why Knowing Them Can Change Your Life) – hmmmm…

Untainted Offerings/Sacrifices

Leviticus 22:18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering; 19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.   20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

This reading came shortly after the issue about the Blessingway party and reverberated with me.

Blemish:

H8549 - From H8552; entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth.

·         H8552 - A primitive root; to complete, in a good or a bad sense, literally or figuratively, transitively or intransitively.

Any offering we make/give unto God should be without blemish.  Dwell on that for a moment.  Roll it around on your ‘mental tongue’ – do you ‘feel’ the fibers, ‘taste’ the nectar?

So, what are we ‘offering’ unto God believing (or rather deceiving ourselves) to think it’s holy.  Which makes me ponder on previous posts such as these:

Day 315 – Do we care about the origins of what we’re participating in?

And because there is a ‘holiday’ upon us, here are a few more for perusal, prayer and, hopefully shucking of bad theological practices.

The Fallacy of Good Friday – where is this ‘practice’ given for us to follow as a ‘holy day’?

Jesus Wasn’t Crucified on Friday or Resurrected on Sunday

So saints, whatever we’re ‘offering’ to God, is it without blemish?

According to HIS standards?  Father, help each of us to examine our lives, to see what we are doing, participating in, to desire to offer unto You all of our time, being, resources as unblemished as possible.